Does Eren Die in Attack On Titan?

Heavy spoilers for Attack on Titan follow.

Few anime characters are quite as interesting as Eren Jaeger (or Yaeger, depending on who you ask), the protagonist turned antagonist of Attack on Titan, arguably the most important anime adaptation of the last decade. But does this deeply fascinating character make it to the end of the show, or does Eren die in Attack on Titan?

If you can’t wait for the final part of The Final Season, Eren does in fact die in Attack on Titan.

In the manga, Eren’s death arrives during the final panels of Chapter 138 after Mikasa cuts his head off during The Battle of Heaven and Earth, the final battle to save what’s left of humanity from The Rumbling. Holding his head in her hands, Mikasa kisses Eren goodbye. With Eren dead, The Rumbling ends and the Power of the Titans vanishes with him.

These events are due to be adapted in late 2023 for the very final part of the anime, but how did we get to this point in Attack on Titan?

Eren Jaeger: From Hero to Villain

Derived from the Hajime Isayama manga of the same name, Attack on Titan revolves around Eren’s quest for revenge and answers after titans, giant humanoid monsters whose origins are shrouded in mystery, besiege the walled-off community Paradis and eat Eren’s mother. After enlisting in the Scout Regiment, Paradis’ elite soldiers trained to deal with the titans, it isn’t long before Eren realises that he is a Titan Shifter, a person able to turn into a titan.

The first three seasons of Attack on Titan focus on Eren and the Scouts repelling attacks from other Titan Shifters while trying to find out the truth after the titans, Paradis, and life beyond the walls. Once they find out the truth, however, Eren becomes a very different person and by the start of The Final Season, he is dead set on ending life outside of the walls to prevent the destruction of Paradis by Marley and its (subjugated) allies.

After misleading his brother, Zeke, Eren eventually earns the power of the Founding Titan and begins The Rumbling to commit global genocide.

Could Eren Still Be Alive?

There are a few fan theories that suggest Eren is still alive, the main one being the bird that Mikasa sees in the final chapter, Chapter 139, that tries to steal her scarf, a gift from Eren that she’s been keeping the entire time, even when Eren tells her to let it go.

However, this is very unlikely to be anything more than wishful thinking, and it all points towards Eren knowing that he had to die all along.

At any point during the course of the Rumbling, Eren could have stopped his friends from using their titan abilities due to the power of the Founding Titan, but he never did. Similarly, Eren essentially tells Armin that he knew he had to die when they met in The Paths in order to save Paradis, and that he had to be the person to blame.

It’s also worth questioning how exactly Eren could live beyond the events of The Rumbling, as his head had already been severed by a sniper bullet from Gabi and only the Founding Titan seemed to be keeping him alive. Eren was also destined to die anyway, as the Curse of Ymir means that all Titan Shifters die 13 years after inheriting their titan.

Can Eren Return?

There is one very small morsel of hope for Eren fans to cling onto to suggest he could maybe return, though.

In the manga’s epilogue, Eren’s tree in Paradis has grown into one resembling the very same tree that Ymir first encountered the Hallucigenia, the worm-like being that gave her powers, otherwise known as the “source of all living matter”. An unknown figure seems to approach the tree as the manga draws to a close.

This does seem to be one final tease from Isayama that suggests that the titan cycle will begin again, as the world around Eren’s tree has been ravaged by war and it’s returned to a more primitive time when titans could really “flourish” again. It’s not entirely clear if it’s a global war or if it’s just Paradis that has fallen, though, but regardless, it seem like Eren couldn’t stop Eldia’s end after all.

There’s a chance (however contrived) that Eren could take the Ymir role in a new cycle, but with Isayama seemingly done with this universe and Eren’s consistent hatred for titans, don’t hold your breath on getting a definitive answer for this open-ended closing panel.

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